Today we’d like to introduce you to Chef Leigh ATL.
Hi Chef Leigh, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
“Hey y’all!” as she walks into the room all of 5’0”, bright orange hair, and a spirit that immediately draws you to her! That country accent and loud voice is so unexpected from the petite frame of a woman in front of me. She explains, “Most people don’t even know I am a female! I try and keep my face and food separate!” She lets out this laugh and I see the shine from her gold teeth! She sits down in her black chef coat, jeans and then you look at her feet and there are the most colorful pair of sneakers I have ever seen! She explains that is how she shows her flare for life. She took a moment to sit down and get into the interview because she first went around the room telling everyone hey and asking them how their accommodations are…as she sits, I feel like I already know her. “Oh my God! I can’t believe I am here. Like, AGAIN!!!!!”. Immediately she covers her face with her hands and begins to display a completely different person. This person is overwhelmed, speaking quietly almost in a whisper to the room, “You have no idea how this feels.” You can see the lone tear stream down her face from under her fingers. “My God is absolutely amazing!”. She wipes her eyes and as the room is silent…she opens in a prayer.
So, Chef Leigh we last interviewed you in July of 2020. What’s been going on? We have heard your name more than once!!
“Yes! what a difference two years makes. My business Chef Leigh ATL now has two full-time employees and 4 part-time. And we are still striving to be the best personal chef/catering company on the east coast. I now have a strong following in Texas, Virginia, Alabama, Florida, and North Carolina, but my biggest achievement has been the tremendous growth in Atlanta, which will always be home. Last time you checked my celebrity clientele list was relevant, and I was in awe, however the last two years my roster has exploded! I remember when I’d go to every celebrity on my wish list and DM them asking to let me give them a free meal for an endorsement, and now they are calling me asking for my services. Manifestation and prayer are real. My combined followings on social media are at about 60k people now, however my account has A MILLION ACCOUNTS REACHED ON A MONTHLY BASIS! We are steadily growing and reinventing the way we cater to our clientele. God has put me in the position to be able to bless others with my blessings! In the last two years, we have done several community outreach-events, including all new clothing and shoes for a boys group home in Atlanta. Last Thanksgiving, I fed 71 families and gave out boxes of food courtesy of BOBBY V with each fully catered meal, each prepared by my hands. However, homeless outreach is where my heart is, so you know that must not ever stop. So, on the 2nd Tuesday of every month, I am somewhere in my community with the homeless offering food and fellowship with a side of encouragement for my people. It’s not about our fall…the story is in our resurrection! Covid put so many things into perspective for so many of us and coming out of it, people have begun to be accustomed to a new way of living. A life filled with friends and family and giving our roses NOW to people who mean everything to us while they are with us. This has changed how people view and approach everything in life at home and on the job.”
So, what’s on the menu? The aroma in here is ridiculous!
“Today, I brought a few of my clients’ favorites: “My Bust Down”Lamb Lollipops, Asian Glazed Salmon, Smoked Six Cheese Macaroni, Honey BBQ Brussel Sprouts, and my Chicken and Waffles with my vanilla bean glaze. It’s a lot of others but these seem to be the fans favorite at this moment. I started cooking as a kid. Growing up in a foster home, being the daughter of a drug addict and African American granddaughter to a South Georgia white Klansman my cultural lines are so blurred. Honey all I know is how to express my love, pain, and healing, thru my food.”
When you meet someone, do you ever wonder if they will remember you or what they will remember?
“When I meet a new client, I always want them to first remember and be welcomed by my energy. Walking into a room of strangers, them trusting you to come into their homes, it can be a tense moment. They are wondering if I am the same person, they watch on ig or if I’m ‘acting’, if you will. Honey! once that ice is broken, and they realize I am who I am, chile the mood relaxes and next thing I know, I’m being asked to stay and party! It’s not just the food and service I pride myself on it’s the entire experience. I’m definitely a whole mood!”
What made you want to become “Chef Leigh ATL”? How did this all start?
“Whew Crazy Story! So I was downtown riding on a scooter w my daughter and I was in an accident and shattered my left leg. As a single uneducated, convicted felon mother of SEVEN, while I was laying on that hot pavement in pain waiting for the ambulance, all I could think about was how was my family going to survive me being out of commission. Who was going to pay the bills, rent, what was going to happen to us!? I remember looking up at my daughter and crying and saying what are we going to do? I could feel the bones wiggling inside of my leg, the most pain I have ever felt. My daughter looked down at me at 21 years old and just having moved into her own apartment, said “Ma, y’all are just going to come live with me. We both knew it would be a long road of healing in front of me even then. After my release from the hospital, I was stuck in a wheelchair and inside my daughter’s apartment which was on the third floor of a walk-up apartment building. “At a loss” became the phrase of the day for a couple of months after that!”
One night my daughter came home crying, rightfully overwhelmed by having to now take care of me and her two younger sisters who at that time were 2 and 5, and I knew then I had to get up no matter what and get back on my feet! I began (against the doctor’s advice, and yes, I’ll pay for it later) to get up and take steps when my kid was at work. Slowly and painfully, I was able to stand long enough to hop around the kitchen. So, I began to make “how to” videos on Instagram just to keep busy and show people my cooking skills. Then I got a message and someone was asking for a plate of my food. This isn’t unknown territory for me. As a young mother in the projects, I used to sell plates all day to support my family, so I was already aware of what to-do and what not to do to make it work. Next thing I know, my CAJUN CRAB BOIL WITH MY “CRACK SAUCE” was taking over the streets. One plate got to BLAC YOUNGSTA and that was all I needed to take off! Show me a door of opportunity and I will kick it off the hinges every time. Chef Leigh ATL was born!”
Where do you see yourself and your company in the next five years?
“Oh wow! The next five years, I hope to have gotten ahead of the new food revolution. I feel that covid brought on a new revolution of lifestyle normalized. The “at home” experience is not just for the rich and famous; it has become affordable and attainable for everyone without sacrificing the “celebrity experience” and treatment. It’s the new wave! I don’t think it’s a trend or trending at this moment, I think it’s just the beginning. I hope to be able to create an app bringing the best chefs of the culinary world to the consumers fingertips. I’m not sure if a featured restaurant is in my near future, but popup shop restaurants and the idea of doing one excites me! I love being able to be face-to-face with my clients and I am constantly seeking ideas to make my dining experience available to everyone. With that said, I am definitely looking forward to opening some type of flagship store. As far as my brand, we are looking into everything…books, podcasts, documentaries, and guest appearances. I have always said if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans. So, having said that, wherever He orders my steps, I shall travel and flourish. I am always thankful for what He has and has not done for me.”
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
“How has the road to success been? Am I successful? Listen, I will definitely tell you this: be careful with that word success. You see when I testify, which I always do, I always profess how far God has brought me and what I have been delivered from. But to the one without that mustard seed, they view this as bragging. Honey, I ain’t braggin’ at all! Even though I try and live right and be accountable for everything I do; I am still tested. Let me tell you, one day I posted that I had made (she smirks and winks) $13,000 that month. “LISTEN!!!!” she yells and stands up slapping her legs! “I remember when I made $13,000 a YEAR with four children. So I was excited! I was shouting to everyone that could hear! I was just homeless, sleeping in my car pregnant, I was just in a wheelchair, I was just in jail, I was just suicidal due to depression from losing my daughter, I was just broke and on food stamps, I am a high school dropout, I sold drugs, I was a lost soul, and God came to me one night and showed me the life he had in front of me. He also promised me more than I could ever imagine if I stayed faithful and my praise stayed on Him. No matter what, I never gave up. Honey, I ain’t even have a license to drive a car. I was taking uber to events w my chaffing pans in the back, coming home having spent more than I made just to do an event. Everyone told me to give up! Don’t buy those chaffing dishes when have you had a party for more than 100 people, they would say. Yet, in my heart I had already heard God speak and tell me to prepare for the abundance He was about to bestow upon me. I went broke every chance I could buying new plates, chaffing dishes, decor, everything. My clientele never slowed down, it increased. Next thing I know, I’m doing events on a daily with up to 300 people! Yes of course, it is hard when you have those who cheat and steal your services from you. I have fed people at events, and I was starving. I have worked and not gotten paid. That’s where my faith comes in. I know God will provide for me. He promised me, and I am here to collect! So, GET OUTTA MY WAY!”
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I read your slogan “if your Chef ain’t ME, she SHOULD be!”
Where does that confidence come from? What makes you different from any other chef? Chef Leigh rocks back and forth in her chair rubbing her hands together like her hands are freezing.
“It’s me baby!!! The secret is in the sauce and I am the sauce baby! You see what I have come to realize and take pride in is my accountability. If I commit myself to your event, there is absolutely nothing that will stop me from treating your event like it’s my own mommas’ events. I have received countless jobs because other chefs have canceled a day or two before or are simply a no show and have run off with that customer’s money. Those events always make me smile for two reasons: one being, I am the best chef and they WILL talk about my food and their experience with their friends. The other is that they will remember how I showed up and showed out at the last minute and next time, I will be their FIRST choice. If you look at my Instagram page (@ChefLeighAtl) I have done over 1200 events and I am the absolute best at providing a consistent and delicious meal every time! You won’t look at my food and one or two dishes look good and then the rice is still raw, or macaroni is burnt. I make food that you want to eat with your eyes and not share with your friends!”
She lets out this huge hackle and screams “Next Question!”
You don’t seem to be the typical, for lack of a better phrase, “churchlady”. Were you always this spiritually connected?
“Listen, all God requires of us is to have faith in Him and His love for us the size of a mustard seed. Do you know how small a mustard seed is? How little of Him He requires that we think of Him and trust in His Magnificent Powers? While I was praying to God to take over my life and lead me to the places that He ordained for me and to not let anything else interfere, Honey God had my name in rooms I didn’t even know existed!
People were giving my praises and speaking blessings over my business that has allowed me to go and see places I never thought I’d see. My clients have even taken me out of the country. So, to answer your question…I don’t believe in luck or lack thereof. Everything in life is attainable through hard work, a little talent, and the ability to understand that growth and success cannot be achieved if we stop learning, perfecting our craft and being open to new ways of learning.
Pricing:
- Service for 2 starts at $450 Service consists of a four-course meal and dessert
- Dinner starts at $145 per person depending on your menu selections
- Catering pricing available for 20 and more
Contact Info:
- Email: carriesheartcatering@gmail.com
- Instagram: ChefLeighAtl
- Other: SnapChat @chefleighatl CALL: (470)476-7020
Image Credits
A.J. Green of the Denver Broncos Grammy Award Winning Celebrity Reality Star, Tiny Harris star of Tyler Perrys “SISTAS” Anthony Dalton and his Beautiful wife Dana Dalton
